Injured Owen out of Liverpool UEFA tie

MICHAEL OWEN will miss Liverpool’s UEFA Cup away game to Steaua Bucharest tomorrow with more problems from his ankle injury.

The England striker was left behind yesterday when Liverpool flew to Romania, with boss Gerard Houllier hoping a week of treatment will ensure Owen is fit to face Man Utd at Anfield on Sunday.

Owen has been struggling with injuries since damaging a shin last month against Arsenal.

He missed two Liverpool games but returned to score against Leeds on October 25.

But he managed only an hour before being taken off.

It has become clear he picked up a different ankle injury that day and missed the Carling Cup win at Blackburn, before playing another hour in Sunday's victory at Fulham.

Houllier said: "This is a different injury to the one he had against Arsenal. Maybe he could play on Thursday in Bucharest, but I do not want to take the risk."

Houllier has also thrown a doubt on Owen's chances of playing for England against Denmark at Old Trafford this month.

Houllier is preparing to face the Romanians without Owen, who set a new club record for European goals when he scored in the last round in Slovenia against Olimpija Ljubljana.

He has been Houllier's talisman in away European ties with a club record there too. But the fact that Liverpool have produced a front line partnership of Emile Heskey and Harry Kewell or could even play French teenager Florent Sinama-Pongolle has given Houllier the breathing space to give Owen a rest.

The good news on the injury front is that Heskey has recovered from the toe injury which affected him at Loftus Road on Sunday, and Pongolle is also fit after the horror tackle for which Luis Boa Morte was sent off.

Houllier has revealed: "Florent has received a call from Luis personally to apologise, and we appreciate that."

Meanwhile, Merseyside rivals Everton defender David Unsworth has put his future at the club in jeopardy by rejecting a new contract.

Unsworth, who made his debut in 1992 and since then has played more than 300 times, was asked to take a pay cut for his new deal but he turned down Goodison officials. His current deal expires at the end of the season.

There was bad news for Middlesbrough striker Malcolm Christie last night. He is out for the rest of the year after breaking his leg in training yesterday. The former Derby forward, who scored just once so far this season, fractured a tibia.

And although the club was hopeful the injury was not serious, those hopes were scuppered when further details of the injury became clear last night.